I used to wake up every morning about an hour before I wanted to be at school. I try to get there by 7:20, so that meant waking up around 6:20. That resulted in an extremely rushed morning. Plus the traffic at my new school is way heavier than the traffic was at my old school. I literally have to leave my house at 7 to make it there by 7:20. And I live less than 3 miles away…
So I have gotten into the habit of waking up around 5:30 or earlier most mornings. This lets me have some time to stretch and get my body moving some before getting in the shower and not being rushed. I am able to peacefully get dressed, feed my dogs, feed myself, and go on my way. I also am able to spend some quality time in prayer before moving on with the day.
So how do I do it? Leo has some great hints at Zen Habits. This guy has some stuff that is pure gold. I like the thing about not making drastic changes. I am still working on carving out more time in the morning. I would like to be able to be up by 5:00 every morning. Right now, 5:30 is pretty comfortable, but I am going to try for 5:20 this week, 5:10 the next week, and 5:00 in two weeks. of course going to sleep earlier is one of the keys.
Being in control of my environment when I come into the school is a great thing. Instead of getting there and already having kids lined up at the door to drop their instruments off and come in, I am in the band hall by myself and am able to really get the day started off well.
Short URL: http://sywtt.com/evzzx7
Tags
Related Articles
This is the fourth in a series of articles entitled 5 Habits of Highly Effective Teachers. What are some of the personal habits that are important to me? Personal Procedures What are some of the personal habits that are important to me? As I'm si ...
I love the week following Christmas break. The students (and teachers) have accustomed themselves to staying up late. Many of them woke up Monday morning earlier than they went to sleep Friday night/Saturday morning. As a result, Monday and Tuesd ...
I want to extend a special welcome to all of the new visitors coming to me from Zen Habits. I am in the midst of a series this month on Stress Reduction Tips. These tips are specifically geared toward educators, but can be applied in practically ...
Download the entire series in e-book format here This school year has been remarkably stress-free for me. As a middle school band director working with the non-varsity group, this is unheard of. I have come up with a list of 25 things I have don ...
.jpg)






